In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Kenfig like this:
KENFIGG, a decayed town and a parish in Bridgend district, Glamorgan. The town stands near the coast and near the Julian way, 1 mile SSW of Pyle r. station, and 6½ W by N of Bridgend; it sprang from a castle which belonged to Jestyn-ap-Gwrgan, was restored and enlarged by his conqueror Fitzhamon, and passed to the Despencers; it became a borough, and a place of considerable importance; it was desolated, along with the castle, by an inundation of the sea, about the middle of the 16th century; and it is now a mere village; but it retains its borough privileges, is nominally governed by a portreeve and other officers, and joins with Loughor, Neath, and Swansea, in sending a member to parliament. ...
Its borough boundaries include all the parish of Kenfigg, the hamlets of Higher Kenfigg and Trissient, and the extra-parochial tract of Skerr. Pop., 442. Houses, 83. -The parish, together with Pyle and Skerr, comprises 4, 526 acres of land, and 725 of water. Real property of K. alone, £674. Post town, Pyle, under Bridgend. Pop., 278. Houses, 55. The property is all in one estate. The name Kenfigg signifies "a ridge of land above a bog;" but what was a bog when the name originated, has long been a lake of nearly 2 miles in circuit, encompassed with sand, and situated close to the shore, yet imbibing no saline water. Much of the land is mere sand bank and rabbit warren, forming part of a desolated tract, which extends from Skerr rocks to Briton Fe An arch of the ancient castle, and part of the ancient church and churchyard, are among the sand banks. An inscribed stone, bearing Ogham letters like those in Ireland, is near the Julian way, about 1½ mile N of the town. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the vicarage of Pyle, in the diocese of Llandaff. The church stands on an eminence, and is good.
Kenfig through time
Kenfig is now part of Bridgend district. Click here for graphs and data of how Bridgend has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Kenfig itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Kenfig, in Bridgend and Glamorgan | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/4406
Date accessed: 20th April 2024
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